Senators’ Playoff Push Starting to Look Like a Long Shot
The Ottawa Senators aren’t a bad hockey team. That’s what makes their situation so puzzling. Look at the roster, and you’ll see talent all over the place. Brady Tkachuk brings his usual bulldog energy every night. Tim Stützle can still turn a harmless rush into a scoring chance in the blink of an eye. Jake Sanderson is quietly turning into one of the better young defensemen in the league.
And yet here we are, with Ottawa sitting several points behind the Boston Bruins in the playoff race and running out of runway.
Last season, the Senators made the playoffs. Why not this season?
Last season, the Senators managed a late surge and grabbed a postseason spot. The obvious question now is: why not this season? The obvious question now is: why not this season? This year, the same spark just hasn’t shown up. And the deeper you look at the standings, the tougher the climb seems to get. There are a few reasons for that.
First, the Bruins simply aren’t slowing down.
Boston has lost only four games in regulation over its last 20 contests. That’s the kind of steady point collection that quietly buries teams chasing from behind. The Senators might play well for a stretch, but if the team they’re chasing keeps banking points every other night, the math starts to work against you.
And when you look at Boston’s remaining schedule, there aren’t many landmines waiting for them either. Aside from games against Minnesota, Dallas, and Tampa Bay, the road ahead looks fairly manageable.
Second, the Bruins’ goaltending advantage matters.
For all the talk about systems and scoring depth, hockey still has a pretty simple rule: steady goaltending wins you games. Jeremy Swayman has given Boston exactly that this season, with a strong record and a save percentage sitting comfortably above league average.
The Senators, meanwhile, have had stretches where the goaltending hasn’t quite matched the effort in front of it. That kind of inconsistency can turn close games into frustrating losses.
Third, the schedule isn’t helping Ottawa.
The Senators don’t have any remaining head-to-head games against Boston. That matters more than people think. Those are the games where you can make up ground directly. Without them, Ottawa is forced to hope the Bruins stumble against other teams—and right now that doesn’t look likely.
So the Senators are left in an awkward spot.
The Senators are good enough to stay competitive most nights, but the standings aren’t always kind to teams that can’t string together long winning streaks. That’s the cruel part of the NHL playoff race.
Sometimes a team can be pretty good… and still end up just a little too late.